TRANSPORT chiefs who left bus passengers stranded by stopping services short of Birmingham city centre defended the decision.

Innocent bystanders were left stranded in the middle of Birmingham from 8.30pm on Tuesday when buses began terminating a mile from the central area.

Birmingham Coach Station, in Digbeth, also closed after a van was set on fire and looters stormed a cafe in nearby Bordesley Street.

Travellers left high and dry tweeted they were concerned for their safety.

Emma Jarvis said: “Just got home. Very happy to be finally out of the city centre. Was all pretty scary to be honest.”

Jacqui Brown wrote: “Distressed call from my cousin who is stuck in Birmingham and asking that I pick her up. She has just got off the train and there’s no buses and no taxis prepared to drive into Birmingham.”

But a spokesman for bus and coach company National Express West Midlands said it curbed services on the advice of West Midlands Police.

“It was not a business decision,” the spokesman said. “We made it in consultation with police.”